information aesthetics

Super Chatter: Analyzing Conversations about the Super Bowl on Twitter

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:47:26 +0100

The online dashboard Super Chatter [collemcvoy.com] designed by advertising agency Colle+McVoy acts as a visual overview of the true impact of the Super Bowl event in contemporary social media, and Twitter in particular.

An interactive timeline not only highlights some of the most important sports scoring events, but aligns them next to all the advertisements that were shown on television. A line graph then maps the rate of tweets-per-minute of those 641,094 tweets that mentioned one of more than 250 specific terms resembling "Super Bowl" (the official hash tag was only used in 4% of all relevant tweets), against a set of predefined terms, such as the popular brands, food and drinks, personalities, or the teams themselves.

Revealing the Impact of Super Bowl Advertising on Social Media

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:28:27 +0100

The interactive dashboard at Brandwatch Super Bowl [brandwatch.com] shows the true impact of the highly expensive advertising that is shown during the Super Bowl, in particular on social online media.

Each so-called 'worm' represents a unique sponsor (including brands like Pepsi, Mars, Walt Disney or H&M). The accompanying number stands for the number of tweets that were made about that brand or their products over the last 28 days (and, yes, the 'worm' who has possession of the ball is winning).

The additional display on the right reveals the complete ranking of all tracked brands, complete with time-based sparklines, the positive versus negative sentiment of the daily tweets, and the most popular keywords that were used.

As a result, one can already attempt to estimate what will be the most anticipated ads for this Sunday, in addition to their expected content.

Revealing the Energy Consumption of Each Building in New York

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:16:33 +0100

The remarkably detailed map [columbia.edu] developed by the Modi Research Group of the Earth Institute at Columbia University reveals the total annual building energy consumption of New York, at both the block and 'taxlot' level (which is nearly at building level).

The map was built using MapBox. The total energy consumption is expressed in kilowatt hours (kWh) per square meter of land area. The data actually was not retrieved from utility companies, but calculated via an elaborate statistical model that is based on current large-scale estimates (e.g. the average energy use by ZIP code) in addition to lower-scale, estimated parameters (like the type and size of the building). Hovering over individual blocks or lots shows more detailed information, such as the type of energy being used, for which purpose (e.g. heating and cooling, electricity or hot water) and in what quantity.

More detailed information is available here. Via NYTimes Green, WSJ Blog and Co.Exist. Thnkx Adam!

Comparing the Fundraising Performance of the US Presidential Candidates

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:17:24 +0100

The NYTimes released a competitive dashboard of sorts, titled "The 2012 Money Race: Compare the Candidates" [nytimes.com]. Basically, the interactive graphic allows readers to contrast the various performance parameters in terms of fundraising from 2 presidential candidates next to each other. Another recent graphic [nytimes.com] lists the hundreds of organizations and people that fund the so-called Super PACs that are officially not controlled by those very candidates.

As also explained in the accompanying press article, both infographics reveal how President Obama continues to outraise all of the candidates currently seeking the Republican nomination. It is also remarkable, however, that some checks seem to come from sources obscured from public view, like those with only a post office box for a headquarters, and no known employees.

If you like to play around with the data yourself, you should be able to find it at the Federal Election Commission website (which, in fact, also publish simple but interactive infographics of their own).

Spot: Visualizing Twitter Dynamics as Particles

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:18:14 +0100

Spot [neoformix.com] by Jeff Clark is a comprehensive real-time Twitter visualization that uses a particle metaphor to represent unique tweets.

According to a set of user-defined keywords, the visualization gathers and displays the latest 200 tweets. The according particles are then organized in various spatial configurations to visually filter the available information by different parameters, such as: commonality of words, according to time, according to people, or categorized by the actual tool that was used to send the tweet.

The tool also allows to explore the tweets from a specific list, such as the "Top 100" of the datavis community, for instance.

More detailed information is available here.

See also Revisit and Digg Labs Swarm. Alternatively, check out Visual Digg Explorer by the same designer.

Visualizing the Demographic Reach of Yahoo! Homepage Stories

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:44:02 +0100

Yahoo! recently released a dedicated data visualization website [yahoo.com] to highlight their Content Optimization and Relevance Engine (C.O.R.E.), a service that aims to personalize the Yahoo! experience depending on a collection of demographic (e.g. gender and age) and geographic (e.g. cities) variables, in combination with personal interests (e.g. Finance, Sports, Health).

The visualization, developed by Periscopic, allows to explore the relevant content of their homepage according to a set of user-selected parameters, so that one can solve questions like: "What is the most popular story for females between 18 and 24?". The shown content reaches back up to 24 hours ago. Each separate story can be further analyzed in terms of popularity over time, plus its demographic reach of the audience that actually clicked on it. Notably, the floating 3D globe of particles consists of news stories.

Via @johnmaeda.

The State of the Union Address 2012 - Infographically Enhanced

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:41:27 +0100

Similar to the original approach in 2011, this year's State of the Union was made available online in a so-called 'enhanced' version, which basically consisted of a split-screen video that shows President Obama giving his speech on one side, and a large collection contextual information and facts, as well as infographics, on the other. In other words: 1 hour and 5 minutes worth of high-level political facts, captured in 102 unique slides, of which about 26 can be labelled as visualization of some kind.

You can watch the 'enhanced' version of the State of the Union 2012 below or at the White House website [whitehouse.gov] itself.

Importantly, there are already some critical reviews available, about this year's infographics [thewhyaxis.info], but also about those of last year [fastfedora.com]. These reviews are quite worthwhile to read, as they point out some potential discrepancies in terms of the graphical representation, and the narrative it tries to convey.

Time Maps: Morphing a Country According to its Travel Time

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:30:35 +0100

In the current age, we tend to think in time rather than absolute distance when estimating our itineraries. Accordingly, the beautiful Timemaps [timemaps.nl] by Vincent Meertens of Graph[s]ic shows the required travel times within The Netherlands by public transportation through morphing its silhouette along a colorful, circular time measure.

Users are able to select any train station location (by clicking inside the map), and time of day (via a slider). As a result, the map will expand at night, and shrink in the morning due to the availability of trains. The color coding corresponds to the number of hours (see legend below the map). If all goes well, the map should even be made available on iOS and Android.

See also Travel Time Tube Map and Worldmapper.

Via @ajdant.

TEDx Talk on Molecular Animation: Combining Cinema and Biology

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:35:04 +0100

Right now, while you are reading this article, billions of your cells are busy replicating your DNA information. Although molecules are smaller than the wavelength of light, and thus we have no way to directly observe them, can we still somehow visualize these processes?

Biomedical animator and MacArthur Foundation nominee Drew Berry of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research presents in a recent TEDx talk of less than 9 minutes, the state-of-the-art in molecular animation. He shows an accurate representation of the actual biological processes that happen on molecular scale, even at the correct speed2.

Next to a movie that originates back from around 2003 that focuses on the replication of DNA, he also shows a newer version that has been accomplished through "updated science, updated technology", revealing how DNA mitosis through a nifty process of some quite 'mechanical' signal broadcasting system. At the end, he highlights the processes behind a malaria infection of a human child via a mosquito bite, through invasion of cellular tissues including the liver and blood. malaria spreads in your blood.

More biological visualization videos can for instance be found at WEHI-TV and Harvard's BioVisions Lab.

Watch the TEDx talk and some of the full versions of the shown movies below.

What Stamen Design Accomplished in 2011 (Cool Maps)

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 20:48:12 +0100

Infosthetics readers might know Stamen Design as one of the front-runners and innovators that drove the popularity of data visualization. With works like Oakland Crimespotting, Cabspotting and Trulia Hindsight, they combined the concept of mapping with new kinds of geo-located data. After some mass audience exposure through online live Twitter visualizations alongside various MTV awards, Stamen somehow disappeared a bit from the infosthetics radar.

For those who are curious on what Stamen was up to, Erik just published an overview of
what they did in 2011 [stamen.com]. Many of their works can be viewed online, such as a very stylized view of the Netherlands above [vpro.nl], interactive data graphics conveying the G8 and EU's spending commitments to Africa [one.org], a map showing various US broadband statistics [broadbandmap.gov], or travel time and housing prices map for the Bay Area [onebayarea.org].

Others show an increased interested in alternative media, including the iPhone (TripAdvisor City Guides), the iPad ("The World" app for National Geographic), television (more colorful MTV hyperactive awards, but also a map for an Oprah TV show [oprah.com]) or a wish to equip inflight Wifi-enabled laptops [mondowindow.com] with real-time 3D maps.

Additional results include mapping libraries that have been made freely available, such as those that focus on only showing buildings ("[map=yes]) or displaying dots on maps ("DotSpotting").

You can now also own a piece of Stamen geographical mapping in your home, for instance in the form of a printed art work [20x200.com], or, why not, very beautiful and fully-localized blankets and napkins [softcities.net].

Ushahidi: Free Software for Data Collection, Visualization & Mapping

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:12:31 +0100

Ushahidi [ushahidi.com] is a non-profit tech company that develops free and open source software for information collection, visualization and interactive mapping. "Ushahidi" means "testimony" in Swahili. It was also the title of a website that mapped reports of violence in Kenya after the post-election fallout at the beginning of 2008. Accordingly, its slogan is "Changing the World - One Map at the Time". Therefore, Ushahidi aims to empower organizations and people all over the world to increase public awareness around social events like elections, local crises or resources. It provides free and open access to tools that facilitate the aggregation, presentation and mapping of relevant datasets online. For instance, check the "Syria Tracker" website here.

The platform has been deployed in the DR Congo to monitor unrest, Al Jazeera used it to track violence in Gaza, and it helped monitor the 2009 Indian Elections. Not surprisingly, Ushahidi also won the (Red) Webby Award 2011 for social innovation.

For data collection, Ushahidi proposes SwiftRiver, a platform that helps people make sense of a large body of information. The visual presentation of this data is accomplished through the so-called Ushahidi Platform, which provides an interactive map and timeline, and is able to connect to real-time data streams such as email, Twitter or web-forms. The most powerful feature is CrowdMap, which offers the ability to download the core application and deploy it independently, for instance to suit a community's needs.

Lichtreise: Highlighting Travel Itineraries with Long-Exposure Photos

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 11:49:52 +0100

Lichtreise [incom.org] by Advanced Media students Christopher Pietsch and Luis Grass is a visualization of a specific holiday itinerary. What makes this work special, is how simple non-digital technology has been used to generate the map: the basis is a long-time exposure picture, which was lit with a physically moving batter-powered UV-LED light and a battery. The map itself was lit in a separate step, which all combined resulted in a beautifully "rendered" infographic.

Via @tillnm.

Carbon Calculator: Revealing Potential Climate Change Mitigation

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:30:23 +0100

The Carbon Calculator [appspot.com] developed by Vizzuality is an interactive mapping tool that reveals the potential contribution of any selected area in the world to climate change mitigation.

Using the data delivered by CBD Secretariat (Convention on Biological Diversity), LifeWeb (CBD Programme of Work on Protected Areas) and UNEP-WCMC (UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre), the online tool calculates rough estimates of user-selected areas on a wide set of parameters, including: the carbon stored in above and below ground live biomass and soil, the percentage overlap with existing protected areas, the status of forests, the restoration potential inside selected areas, the maximum carbon sequestration potential.

As an original approach, the mapping tool allows users to draw a line around their area(s) of interest, or select any protected area, from which the detailed information and statistics are shown.

Via @JanWillemTulp.

Visualizing Statistical Darts Strategies: Where to Best Aim Your Darts

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:29:46 +0100

Nick Berry at DataGenetics has one of those dream jobs you never knew existed: Nick is an expert in data analytics, specialized in the online gaming world. In his recent blog post "A geek plays darts" [datagenetics.com], he demonstrates his interest in gaming, statistics and visualization by diving into the world of dart strategies.

In short, the blog post attempts to solve the question of determining the most optimal location on the board for players with different skill sets in darts: when one is not well experienced in playing darts, he might need to aim for not the highest scoring region, but for a large expanse where there are more "middle of the road point" values.

Statistically, the probability of a where a dart lands is based on a target and standard deviation, which in itself depends on the skill of the darts player: a good darts player has a low standard deviation, and the shots will be closely clustered around their intended objective. When the according skill-based Gaussian curve is swept over the board, the expected score for each possible aiming location can be calculated and represented. In the resulting visualizations, color is used to represent the expected score. In some bullseye graphs, 3D is used to provide a better idea of the according score distributions.

Nick also describes a method to estimate one's own scoring performance. It thus turns out that when you succeed in throwing half the darts inside the outer bull of the board (so with a accuracy of about 2cm), then you are (statistically) a hard player for any amateur to beat.

Thnxk Stan!

World Travel versus Global Communication As Recorded by Twitter

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 20:12:17 +0100

The maps from Eric Fischer are ever beautiful and insightful. He is the guy behind the surprising maps that compare the locations where people use Flickr versus Twitter, that reveal the geographical distributions of races, and that contrast the places that are photographed by tourists versus locals.

Eric's newest work [flickr.com] shows the locations between different tweets of the same people (green), and compares those to the locations of people that @reply to each other (purple), as recorded by Twitter between May and September 2011. The concept to derive human travel from Twitter data is a bit similar to Jer Thorps' Just Landed, although here the locations are completely determined by the differences in geotags of the tweets, and not partly by the location as mentioned in the Twitter profile.

Also check out his personal geography of 2011.